Game apparatus



(No Model.)

' W.D. PITTMAN.

Game Apparatus. No. 240,334. Patented April 19,1881.

-llllllillllllllll N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPMER. WASHINGTON, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM D. PIT'IMAN, OF FAIRFIELD, TEXAS.

GAM Ev APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,334, dated April19, 1881.

Application led February 28, 1881. (No model.)

To all 'whom 'it may concern.'

Beit known that I, WILLIAM I). PIT'IMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fairfield, in the county of Freestone and State of Texas,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The present invention relates to that class of game apparatus in whichtilting levers or arms located at the endv of an alley or board andbearing numerals designating theirvalue in the game are designed to bestruck by balls, so as to displace or change the position of saidlevers.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of the partsforming the apparatus, which will hereinafter be more fully described,and then set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a gameapparatus constructed according to my invention. Fig.2 is a frontelevation thereof. Fig. 3is a rear view, showing more fully the devicefor setting the tilting levers.

The letter A designates a bowling floor or board, at the rear end ofwhich is arranged an upright casing or box, B, which forms a chamber forthe reception of the operating devices of the apparatus. The latter maybe fastened to the floor of an ordinary bowling-alley, and in such casesmust be of proper size and strength. The operating devices may also bearranged at the end of a smaller alley or board having an inclinationtoward the front, so as to return the balls to the players through themedium of ordinary side gutters or channels. The oor of the alley isprovided with a series of parallel channels or grooves, D, of unequallength, the central channels being the longest, and the others graduallydiminishing in length toward the sides of the alley. A series ofvertical levers or arms, E, extend across the alley, and are pivoted ator about their centers between suitable guide strips or boards, F,fastened to the casing B. The lower ends of these levers or arms Eterminate at a distance from the floor of the alley slightly less thanthe diamelThe tilting levers or arms E are arranged below acorresponding number of horizontal or longitudinal levers, G, which arealso pivoted between the aforesaid guide-strips F at a point slightly inadvance ot' their centers. The front ends of the levers G are hinged, bymeans of pivot or strap hin ges, to vertically-sliding arms H, which arewidened at their upper ends, so as to form heads I. These heads bearnumerals on their front sides, which designate the value of each leverin the game. The arms H slide in vertical Ways or guides J on the frontwalls of the apparatus, and are retained therein by a suitable cap plateor board. Thehorizontal levers G are hung and Weigh ted in such a mannerthat when the tilting levers or arms arranged beneath said horizontallevers are struck by a ball the heads I, bearin g the numerals, areraised above the front Wall of the apparatus, so as to display thenumerals on said heads. I have in the present instance provided eachhorizontal lever G With a vertical rod, K, bearing a weight, L, at itsupper end; but it will be apparent that the rear ends of said levers mayhave a block or other form of Weight directly applied thereto. Theweightbearing rods K, when used, move in vertical guide-grooves made ina transverse strip on the top of the apparatus.

Any desired number of tilting levers and their adjuncts may be used; butgenerally there are only` eight or ten.

It will be obvious that the levers located in line with the centralchannels of the alley are of the highest value, because they are moredifcnlt to strike than the others. I do not conne myself to such anarrangement of chang nels or numbering of the levers or the deviceswhich they serve to operate, as above described, because the channels inthe board may all be ofthe same length. When this is the case the leversadjoining the side walls of the apparatus are not so easily hit as theothers, and hence their value in the game is greater than when thechannels come to a point, as shown in the drawings.

The operating devices are reset for the next play by means of a benttransverse shaft, M,

IOO

which is jou'rnaled at the rear end of the casing B, and has a crank orarm, N, extending beyond the side of said casing. Acord orrope, P,connected with said crank-arm and running to the front of the alley,serves to rock the shaft M, so as to cause it to lift against thetilting levers and bring them into a vertical position. A suitable hookon the side of the casing R serves to lock the bent rock-shaft byentering an eye or loop therein. Any other fastening. device may,however, be resorted to for locking the rock-shaft and preventing theoperating devices from being disturbed by unauthorized persons.I

Havingl thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a game apparatus, the combination of a series of vertical tiltingarms or levers, a cor-v responding series of longitudinal levers hav- 3.In a game apparatus, the combination of 3o the transverse rock-shaft andoperating-cord with the tilting levers and their adjuncts, as herein setforth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM D. PITTMAN.

Witnesses A. G. ANDERSON, L. W. TRAVERICK.

